Over the past 100 years, University of Toronto women have captured countless intercollegiate titles, fought and won hard battles for women’s equality, informed the coaching world, and made it to the top of the Olympic podium. As International Women’s Day celebrates its centennial, we celebrate the bold and brave women who have made U of T intercollegiate athletics what it is today.
The official day of recognition has past (March 8), however, varsityblues.ca will continue to highlight and recognize outstanding women, who have made significant contributions to sport in this country and at this University.
Today we draw your attention to hall-of-famers Liz Hoffman and Angela Orton.
Liz Hoffman:
After an elite athletic career, Liz Hoffman joined the staff at the Faculty of Physical Education and Health immediately after graduation in 1971, and embarked on an outstanding career in coaching and administration. She led Varsity Blues field hockey to 16 Ontario league titles and eight CIS championships in 20 seasons and was selected CIS coach of the year three times; the annual award for the Canadian university women’s field hockey player of the year is named in her honour.
She also served as head coach of the Ontario field hockey program from 1977 to 1994, guiding teams to numerous national championships, and was the National Regional coach for Ontario and Quebec from 1982 to 1994. Her university coaching success also included two Ontario champions in women’s swimming and three titles in intermediate field hockey. In 1987, Hoffman was a charter inductee into the U of T Sports Hall of Fame.
As the school’s director of athletics, she built a tremendous coaching team. Under her leadership, the Varsity Blues claimed 17 national titles and 126 provincial team championships in the past 20 years. U of T’s intercollegiate program encompasses 44 teams and the graduation rate of its student-athletes is consistently higher than that for the general university population.
Hoffman has also been a driving force behind the growth of intercollegiate competition in Canada. She served on the board of directors of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) during three different decades (1982-86, 1993-97, 2003-07), including being its president from 1995-97, and has been a U of T delegate to Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and its predecessors since 1977, including terms as president and past president from 1980-84 and 2003-07.
Angela Orton
An outstanding member of the Varsity Blues women’s basketball team for five years (1981-86), CIAU all-Canadian Angela Orton was named U of T’s female athlete of the year in 1985. A co-captain for many seasons, her athletic prowess was marked in numerous ways throughout her intercollegiate playing career, including being named to four OWIAA all-star teams (1982-86), as well as winning a CIAU championship and being named MVP in 1986. Her hard work and talent earned Angela a position on both the junior national team and the Canadian national team from 1983-88.
Orton went on to use her motivational skills and coaching abilities at the University of Guelph, where she was the head coach of the women’s basketball program. The OUA named Orton the West division coach of the year four times in 22 seasons as Guelph’s bench boss. Orton announced her retirement from coaching in 2010-11 to focus on her responsibilities in Department of Athletics as manager of intercollegiate programs.
International Women’s Day Part 1: Helen Gurney & Abby Hoffman
